Night of Cups by Mina Hepsen was a very enjoyable read. I love paranormal, and anything that has extra twists and puts their own spin on creatures of folklore get high marks from me.

The story is about Sarah, or Celine as those she meets believes her name is, a djinn hunter and seer. She is chasing a djinn when she is hit by a truck and wakes up in the hospital. She has a vision of the guy, a teenage boy, who hit her. To save him, she has to enmesh herself into Josh's life, enrolling in his school, and essentially never leaving his side. It doesn't cause her as much grief as she thought because she finds herself attracted to him, and unwilling to leave even if she could. Soon though, she realizes the djinn stalking Josh is a lot stronger than any she has ever faced before. There is also Ian, the mysterious guy who seems to be there to save her each time Celine finds herself in trouble. In the end, it takes everything she has to save herself and those she has come to care for.

Each Friday, Reading Lark is going to feature some new releases each week to help give you some ideas of what to buy next. This is not an exhaustive list of this week's releases - just some novels that caught our eye. Feel free to share what books you're excited about that came out this week in our comments section.

This would be a great read for anyone who loves Sarah J Maas' writing - it is GREAT fantasy!

Frostblood is really original, and follows Ruby, a girl with the power of fire running through her veins. She has been in hiding all her life but a silly mistake costs her her freedom and her family. She finds herself in prison, rotting away, when she is rescued by a mysterious stranger and his friend. They have frost powers and Ruby is highly distrustful of them. So starts the journey of them learning about each other, their powers, and gradually forming an alliance to work together towards one goal: removing the despot king from power.

“Meet George Jetson. His boy, Elroy. Daughter, Judy. Jane, his wife.” Yeah, I was singing that in my head too. That shiny future of flying cars, robot maids, and moon colonies was what we were supposed to have – what we actually did have, until someone messed up the timeline. Tom Barren, son of the brilliant scientist who invented time travel, attempts to visit the most important event in history and strands himself in our version of 2016. Our reality is a messy, scary nightmare to Tom compared to the techno-utopia he grew up in.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Kitty and Rosa's long-standing feud was the stuff of legends in Harmony Harbor. No one seemed to know what had happened between the two older women, but they couldn't be in the same room without sparks flying.

I can only imagine that Paris at Christmas time must be absolutely gorgeous. I've never been to Paris, but there is something intriguing to me about seeing the city covered in snow and decorated with evergreens and twinkling lights. I also have to admit that I was drawn in by the cover of this one. It conjures that Christmas magic for me.

Isabel is a driven woman in her late twenties who can't seem to make love stick. She was supposed to be getting married and spending her honeymoon in Paris during Christmas, but instead she's visiting the City of Lights on her own, staying in the honeymoon sweet without her fiancee. Isabel called off the wedding because she felt like they wanted different things. In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I liked Isabel or not. There is nothing wrong with having career goals, but I feel like love is about compromise, and didn't seem that she was willing to do that. She wanted everything - the high power career, the perfect husband, a lavish home, the dog, and the beautiful children. I'm sure some women can pull that off, but her wishes left me feeling stressed out and tired. She also comes off as selfish, shallow, and spoiled.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

We discovered this feature at Ya-Aholic, where it ran on Fridays. It sounded like a fun addition to our lineup, but fits better here on Sundays. It's based on the basic Magic Lamp = 3 wishes idea. Since there are so many of us, though, we're just taking one wish each per week.

If we had a Magic Lamp, we'd wish:

Paula: I wish that humans can figure out how to defeat disease and injury without getting creepy and weird about it. Inspired by Scythe by Neal Shusterman.Andrea: I wish that I owned a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. Inspired by What Light by Jay Asher.

Like most people, I begin seriously thinking about Christmas after the last bite of mashed potatoes and stuffing on Thanksgiving. There is something magical about this time of year that makes me feel light hearted. I love the decorations, twinkling lights, peppermint hot chocolate, Christmas carols, and shopping for the perfect gifts. I love reading holiday themed novels once late November hits and I was super excited to dive into the newest Jay Asher novel.

Sierra has an unorthodox life around Christmas. Right before Thanksgiving, she packs up and travels with her parents from their Christmas tree farm in Oregon to their tree lot in California. She spends Thanksgiving through Christmas Day away from home as she helps her parents sell trees. I have always been fascinated by the Christmas tree farm process. I am not sure most people truly think about what is involved in their tree aside from the labor they do of getting it home, set up, and decorated. It was intriguing to see Christmas through Sierra's eyes as it had such an important impact on her family and their holiday traditions.